Differences in the gearbox from an F1 to a manual?

It's my understanding that they are the same, but I could be wrong ;-)

 

Nope check your manual. They are different.

 

Hey Vince, interesting...Do you know what the differences are? First time I've heard that..

 

Main difference is the tcu, clutch position sensor, other harnesses which feed road speed and safeties such as hood, doors etc. mechanical parts are mostly identical. Gears, clutch, many bolts, shift forks, spacers, most of the covers for the GB.

 

Much easier to change an f1 to manual. People are making kits for around 5 grand.

 

5 grand kit to convert an F1 to manual? Is there more information available on that? I'd love to see it. Thanks

 

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/ferrari-parts-collectibles/432703-360-6-speed-conversion-kit.html

 

Why on earth would anyone want to pay $5k to do that?!

Just buy a manual if you feel that strongly about it.
I can't believe someone would buy an F1 car and then spend thousands of $ to butcher it and turn it into a car they could have bought anyway.

 

Hardly would call getting rid of a non dual clutch flappy paddle shift "butchering". I didn't want an F1 based car, so I am biased with my pick of a 6 speed car.

 

You do a wonderful job of missing the point.

There were, literally, thousands of both manual and F1 355s produced.
ie. plenty of each.

My incredulity is based on: if you want a stick shift, buy one.
Why would anyone buy a paddle-shift car and then spend thousands to turn it into a stick shift?! It makes no sense.

PS. Last time I checked, my F1 is also a "6 speed car"...

 

If you have ever tried to buy parts to fix the very old F1 transmission in a F355 you would be sorely tempted to just convert it back to a H-gate if things went wrong. The prices of the system bits are astronomical, in some case enough to write off the car.

On the other hand the F355 is awesome in H-gate configuration and a conversion wouldn't diminish this anything, if not enhance it since the F1 wasn't particularly well developed (software wise). Similarly the 360 and even the F430 (despite postings to the contrary) work particularly well with a manual gearshift. Technically I believe you could actually convert a F355 to use the Challenge Stradale TCU and most of the system bits (to reduce costs), just the shift points would need remapping, etc. You'd really need to know what your doing but that would be a project worth doing if you really felt strongly to F1 on F355...

The 458 is another kettle of fish altogether since most of its electronics are designed around the flappy paddles so even if you can get the manual mechanical parts (most exists due to the H-gate Cali, which shares the same 'box) it would be a challenge to make it feel OEM. If you stripped back all of those electronic safety nets, the 458 car would be radically different to drive. Probably closer in feel to that of a hyper alert F430 Scuderia actually. Still super quick but the work would probably be required to remove all of those software bits but in a way and allow everything to function correctly without 'go to the dealer' errors on the dash all the time.

-T

 

Thousands yes, but the majority where H-Gate's, I seem to recall over 3/4's where manual's and only a small number in flappy paddles.

I appreciate your view about not 'buying' an existing car to convert (unless price/availability/quality came into the equation) but converting could occur for many reasons post purchase. Such as the parts cost thing or yearning for a H-Gate and being very happy with your existing car, knowing its history, etc.

 

I agree. If for some reason you have an F1 and wanted acgated car, sell it and find the one you want but please don't ruin it...

 

Exactly. I appreciate 360trevs comments but I just don't see why anyone would NEED to do the conversion. If you want a stick shift, buy one. There are plenty around - in fact more than F1s.

There seems to be a view (amongst the stick shift guys) that people only ever buy F1s because they made a mistake.

News flash: some people actually WANT the F1 and didn't want a stick shift! Shock! Horror!

Is there a kit which converts the stick shift to F1? There should be. Then the car would be faster and more modern.

 

Unofficially, yes, I know of at least one 360 owner whom converted their 6spd car into F1 by using breaker yard parts. Also know of (detailed on some forums with pictures) guys doing the f1 to 6spd too.

I personally appreciate the use of both transmissions in different scenarios. There is no doubt paddle shift is faster in racing applications, its also quicker on the road too. I don't think people should 'take sides'. There is definitely enjoyment had from owning both types of car. Both are different enough to drive that you can derive different satisfaction from both types. If you've learned to perfect Heel & toe it can be very rewarding to use H-gate 'for fun' and blip the shifts yourself matching the revs to gears. If your tackling a particularly demanding twisty road very fast paddles help you to keep both hands on the wheel at all times (useful!) ...

 

Is a manual more preferable than a f1?

 

Loaded question, preference is the key, with some very strong opinions on both sides. If I owned an F1 and saw catastrophic failure with an unrealistic repair cost I would consider all options.

As far as better, depends on what you enjoy; me personally, I enjoy the feel of moving through the gears with a slight feather on the pedal between shifts and the faint metal on metal click delivered by the gate.

 

There is a 360 kit for sale currently in the Parts section for $5,500. The fellow selling has experience doing the conversion according to the write up so there are people doing it. Sounds pretty straight forward. Makes sense if someone is looking at maybe $20,000 to make a repair or go back to manual for less than $6,000.

 

FTR I owned a 99 F1 355 and it shifted perfectly other than at one time would not allow me to shift past 3rd gear, this was simply due to what turned out to be a dirty speed sensor.
My F1 shifted so smoothly that a driver would be hard pressed to make it happen nearly as quick. Both F1 and manual have great aspects and each could be said to have there faults.
Are they expensive to work on "YES." There are no inexpensive Ferrari parts?

Have you owned an F1?

 

My F1 always shifts perfectly and lighting fast. The only condition is that it must be warmed up or the shifting is less than smooth.

 

Driven many. Have you driven a CS? I'm not saying its bad, I'm saying it should have been much better out of the box. I'm talking about clutch longevity (esp.reversing up a hill - lots of slip!), fastest possible shift speed in 'race modes', self learn setting of the PIS, etc. Independent setting of shocks vs f1 shifting speed. All these came later on in the firmware and sadly where not software retrofitted to the F355... The main reason why a F355 F1 doesn't shift as fast as a CS is software, hence 'not well developed' comments. I'm not hating here.

 

No disrespect but this was the first road car to ever have this technology. Easy to look back and say "should have" now.

Also, I'm guessing Ferrari's top priority was not "reversing up a hill"

 

The only difference is upgraded selector forks. All late 6 speed also had the upgraded forks.